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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $580.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

Very good IQ for a SWA, esp. at f5.6 and higher; low distortion; small and light; great build quality

Cons:

A bit soft at f4

This is a little gem of a lens, very pocketable with very good IQ and low distortion compared to other lenses in this FL range. While a bit soft wide open, it sharpens up nicely at f5.6 and above.

I question your recommendation of the Tokina 12-24 f4 as an alternative, as it is not available in the Pentax K mount. However, I believe that the Tokina shares its optical design with the Pentax 12-24 f4, so the Pentax would deliver similar performance.

amnesix

Registered: September 2009Posts: 2

Pentax 15mm f/4 ED AL Limited SMC DA review by amnesix

Review Date: 10/5/2009

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: None indicated| Rating: 9

Pros:

size, weight, quality of build, sharpness from f8, flare resistance

Cons:

mediocre sharpness until f8

This a *compact* lens, hence the mitigated sharpness results until you close to f8. Apart from that, I can't find anything bad to say about this lens.

It shares with its "Limited" colleagues a really good colours rendition, and its build qualities. And, from f8, the image quality.

The DA 15mm Limited delivers all you can await from a such compact lens.

ktwse

Registered: March 2008Posts: 11

Pentax 15mm f/4 ED AL Limited SMC DA review by ktwse

Review Date: 8/1/2009

Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Total Spent: $1,000.00| Rating: 9

Pros:

Build quality, size, very very good when stopped down

Cons:

Good but not excellent sharpness, max aperture (but that's a result of the design)

Looking at the price spent, you realize that people in Europe get shafted when buying lenses...

That said, this is a very nice lens that only really suffers from two issues: first of all, it's max aperture is fairly mediocre. That can be expected, however, as otherwise it wouldn't be as compact. But it means that this will not be your first choice for low light situations. Another issue, related to this, is that the lens isn't super sharp until about f/8. Not much of a problem for me as I mostly use it for landscapes, but the combination of the max aperture and the sharpness wide open also means that any attempt at subject isolation will be a bit compromised.

The build quality, of course, is head and shoulders above any other lens by a volume manufacturer today. Brilliant stuff, and Pentax should be commended for bringing out lenses like this in today's mass production climate.